MMG Queensland Operations deliver third quarter report card for 2014

16 Oct 2014 12:00 PMMedia Release

Century Mine plans for end of production as Dugald River continues stoping trial

MMG Limited (MMG) (1208.HK) today released its third quarter production results. The company’s Queensland Operations at Century and Dugald River have continued to work on their respective strategies of planning for the end of production at Century and continuing the mine stoping trial at Dugald River.

Century, located 250km north west of Mount Isa, is Australia’s largest zinc mine. The operation reported lower production in the year to date, due to the planned five-yearly dry-docking of its concentrate shipping vessel, the MV Wunma, in Singapore.

The total year-to-date zinc production for MMG was 5% lower than in 2013, with scheduled maintenance and the five yearly re-certification of the Wunma a contributing factor.

Century’s year-to-date zinc production totalled 319,230 tonnes, which is in line with total guidance for 2014 of 455,000-470,000 tonnes of zinc in zinc concentrate.

General Manager of MMG’s Queensland Operations, Mark Adams, said the strategy of keeping Century’s infrastructure at Lawn Hill and Karumba in a state of operational readiness after the end of the Century mine production is still in place.

“We’re examining various options to utilise Century’s infrastructure while we prepare for the end of open pit production, which we expect to occur in the third quarter of 2015,” he said.

“Rehabilitation planning has already commenced and our intention is to return the lease to its pre-mining use as an area suitable for light cattle grazing. While we examine future options, we will maintain all plant, equipment and infrastructure in a state of operational readiness. This includes the concentrate pipeline and facilities at Karumba,” said Mr Adams.

The workforce at Century will continue to decline in line with operational requirements, down from the current 900 to approximately 160 by the end of 2015.

“The transition of Century is a challenging time for everyone who has a stake in the operation, but we are communicating with employees and the community about how the transition will occur and how it will affect regions where most of our FIFO employees are based; particularly the Lower Gulf, Townsville and Cairns,” said Mr Adams.

“One of Century’s greatest legacies is that it has provided many Indigenous people from the Lower Gulf with their first experience of mainstream employment and economic independence. We are assisting them and other transitioning employees with outplacement services so they can build on the benefits Century has given them.”

As part of our broader Queensland Operations review, MMG’s Dugald River development, 65km north of Cloncurry, is continuing its mine stoping trial program with a total of 13 trial stopes now successfully mined and backfilled.

The trial mine stope spans have ranged from 15m to 30m and have proven stable for the geotechnical conditions encountered.

A geological and geotechnical program is now underway to review the findings in relation to the entire ore body.

The mine stoping trial seeks to determine the accurate mine stope design parameters and productivity assumptions for Dugald River leading up to the assessment of future options for the project.